A look through the Veterans’ Gateway

The Ministry of Defence has selected the Legion to lead a consortium bid to deliver an access point – a simple way for veterans to seek support from the best possible source.

30 January 2017

The Royal British Legion is at the heart of a network that supports our Armed Forces community through thick and thin – ensuring their unique contribution is never forgotten.

Scheduled to launch in April, the Veterans’ Gateway is a new, single point of contact through which veterans will be able to seek advice and support on a huge range of issues: everything from healthcare and housing to employability, financial advice, personal relationships and more.

Currently, more than 2,000 charitable groups offer help to veterans, but they can prove difficult to navigate. By having this sole point of contact, the Gateway team will be able to quickly ascertain which of the referral partners is best placed to help with the information, advice and support required.

The Veteran’s Gateway will bring together both military charities such as Combat Stress and broader ones such as Shelter.

Veterans will have several ways to access the Gateway team: through the contact centre; via the website; even with online chat that will offer supportive assistance. Then, from the Gateway, they’ll transfer into the processes of the appropriate organisation.

“The Legion is working hard to put itself at the heart of a network of support.”

It won’t always be the Legion assisting them; this new concept is about giving veterans and their families the opportunity to get to the right place with a single point of contact. The referral partners that have signed up to be a part of the initial Gateway are in the civilian as well as the Service charitable sectors. It’s likely that more partners will want to get involved after the initial launch of the Gateway.

The Legion’s operations teams are specialists in many areas, but the initial referral partners include major organisations that cover areas outside the Legion’s expertise – Cruse bereavement counselling, for example, Relate relationship management advice, and through the charity Shelter, homelessness.

“We are honoured to have been awarded the grant to establish the new Veterans’ Gateway with our partners at SSAFA, Combat Stress, Connect Assist and Poppyscotland. The new service will ensure that all Armed Forces veterans, wherever they are based, can get help quickly and efficiently from whichever organisation is best placed to provide it. This drive to put the people we support first – and to work collaboratively across our sector – is at the heart of our new strategy, and the Veterans’ Gateway is just the first step in that new strategy.”